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Using GPS instead of maps

Does anyone have experience of wide-area touring and navigation using a
GPS device? I have an Etrex 20 and an OpenStreetMap mapping
(talkytoaster), as an experiment, and found it hopelessly painful to
use, mainly because of lack of resolution and secondarily lack of oomph
(especially noticeable when scaling and scrolling).

The map was hopeless in the Highlands (seriously off-road), because it
had only 50m contours (if I recall) and few locations were named, but
OK in the more populated areas.

The fancier devices seem to have event lower resolutions and, while, it
is possible that the very expensive Ordnance survey maps are better,
I am somewhat doubtful. And then there is Satmap ....

On 10/20/15 07:27, Bob Mannix wrote:
No but I would take issue with one of your assertions. I get my OS maps
from Dash4it.co.uk. Currently Explorer maps are £5.84. With free 1st
class
p&p and guaranteed latest version, I would say they aren't expensive.
When they privatise the OS we will realise just what a bargain they were,
I fear!

Effectively, they have done, but that's for that link. I wasn't
referring to the paper maps, but to the 'GPS' ones, and it's not the raw
price so much as the constraints you get for your money.

On 20/10/2015 10:35, Nick Maclaren wrote:
On 10/20/15 07:27, Bob Mannix wrote:
No but I would take issue with one of your assertions. I get my OS maps
from Dash4it.co.uk. Currently Explorer maps are £5.84. With free 1st
class
p&p and guaranteed latest version, I would say they aren't expensive.
When they privatise the OS we will realise just what a bargain they
were,
I fear!

Effectively, they have done, but that's for that link. I wasn't
referring to the paper maps, but to the 'GPS' ones, and it's not the raw
price so much as the constraints you get for your money.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Satmap maps are excellent, but expensive[1]. This doesn't bother me
because the Custom 20k x 20k map I bought from Satmap, centred on my
home, covers nearly all the walks I do these days.
I have the 1/25,000 1/50,000 version, which zooms through from a rough
world map to the 1:25,000 scale map which can be magnified if you
continue zooming.

[1] If you're sitting down... ;-) I think the Peak District map cost
about £100, discounted to £70 when purchased with the Satmap.
--
Gordon H

On 19/10/2015 17:49, Nick Maclaren wrote:
Does anyone have experience of wide-area touring and navigation using a
GPS device? I have an Etrex 20 and an OpenStreetMap mapping
(talkytoaster), as an experiment, and found it hopelessly painful to
use, mainly because of lack of resolution and secondarily lack of oomph
(especially noticeable when scaling and scrolling).

The map was hopeless in the Highlands (seriously off-road), because it
had only 50m contours (if I recall) and few locations were named, but
OK in the more populated areas.

I use the contours from the MCoS as my upland map in my GPS and I
think they go down to 10m interval as you zoom in. I have a smart
phone with raster road maps and OS 50k and have used that for small
area walks (even up a Munro) but it is frustrating to use for longer
walks due to the postage stamp effect. For driving it works rather
better but it is still best to have a paper atlas to see off the edge
of your immediate area.
--
Phil Cook

"Gordon H" wrote in message ...
[1] If you're sitting down... ;-) I think the Peak District map cost
about £100, discounted to £70 when purchased with the Satmap.
--
Gordon H

I think your pricing must be from before the point where the OS revised its
licence fees.

Current RRP for the Satmap Peak District 1:25K/1:50K toggleable is £35.
(which, though not cheap is an improvement on your experience :-) )

Other maps also dropped in price.

I quite like my Satmap, and if you are selective the maps aren't *too*
expensive.

It is OK used "standalone", but because of the restricted "window" it is
better used with planned/downloaded routes, and the (online) Satmap
expedition tools are pretty good, though better if you subscribe the £20 per
year to get access to larger scale and a wider repertoire of maps.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
Does anyone have experience of wide-area touring and navigation using a
GPS device? I have an Etrex 20 and an OpenStreetMap mapping
(talkytoaster), as an experiment, and found it hopelessly painful to
use, mainly because of lack of resolution and secondarily lack of oomph
(especially noticeable when scaling and scrolling).

Comfort depends mainly on the device used. My Garmin Montana is a bit large
to be carried in my pants pockets but I found it extremely helpful in the
wild on my last walking holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. Touchscreen is a
must to scroll the map.

One big plus of GPS maps is the ability to zoom in nearly infinitely,
especially with OSM based material. Assumed that the mapping has been done
carefully, itâ€™s easy to tell whether the footpath continues to the left or
right of that wall ahead, when the green dotted line in the OS map just
centralizes above it.

To get an overview, on the other hand, paper maps are much better, of
course. Just because of their size. A 3 or 4 inches display cannot compare
to that.
The map was hopeless in the Highlands (seriously off-road), because it
had only 50m contours (if I recall) and few locations were named, but
OK in the more populated areas.

OpenStreetMap is a community. Join in and start adding place names, we canâ€™t
do it all ourselves :-)

I use the contours from the MCoS as my upland map in my GPS and I think
they go down to 10m interval as you zoom in. I have a smart phone with
raster road maps and OS 50k and have used that for small area walks
(even up a Munro) but it is frustrating to use for longer walks due to
the postage stamp effect.

Thanks very much. But MCoS? The Web indicates Modern Church of Satan,
which seems a little OTT.

On 19/10/2015 17:49, Nick Maclaren wrote:
Does anyone have experience of wide-area touring and navigation using a
GPS device? I have an Etrex 20 and an OpenStreetMap mapping
(talkytoaster), as an experiment, and found it hopelessly painful to
use, mainly because of lack of resolution and secondarily lack of oomph
(especially noticeable when scaling and scrolling).

I have the same; it's only really useful in urban areas, where you can
zoom into streetmap level. Possibly I need to learn to customise the
display, but field boundaries aren't shown. And coverage of paths and
parish boundaries, inter alia, varies between areas.

The map was hopeless in the Highlands (seriously off-road), because it
had only 50m contours (if I recall) and few locations were named, but
OK in the more populated areas.

The fancier devices seem to have event lower resolutions and, while, it
is possible that the very expensive Ordnance survey maps are better,
I am somewhat doubtful. And then there is Satmap ....

I've also used NavFree on an GPS enabled Android tablet (Hudl 2). At
least you can see a decent amount of territory on the screen that way.

The latest print editions of OS 1:25,000 maps have download keys for
digital versions for use with the OS Mapping ap. I bought a new edition
of the Dark Peak map recently, because where I wanted to walk was in a
gap between the coverage of the older edition I owned and the next
Explorer map, which is how I discovered this. So, I ended up navigating
that bit of territory using the Hudl rather than the physical map.

As I'm sure you know, you need the physical map as backup for when the
batteries run out.